IMF lowers global growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for global economic growth and called on governments and central banks to pursue policies that will support growth.

IMF lowers global growth forecastIMF lowers global growth forecast

IMF lowers global growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for global economic growth and called on governments and central banks to pursue policies that will support growth.

 

The IMF's projection for 2015 is for a growth rate of 3.5 per cent.

 

The revised predictions come as China records its weakest economic growth in 24 years - but at 7.4 per cent in 2014, it's still greater than most economies can even dream of.

 

A slowdown in China's housing market is part of reason for the weaker growth figure.

 

Clive McDonnell is the Head of Equity Strategy at Standard Chartered Bank and says a government crackdown on corruption has contributed to a decline in the consumption of luxury goods.

 

"The crackdown in corruption has impacted demand for higher-value luxury goods within China. So at the same time when investment growth is indeed slowing, overall consumption growth has been constrained somewhat by the corruption crackdown."

 

The International Monetary Fund has revised down its growth predictions for China.

 

Alfred Schipke is the IMF's representative for China.

 

"We have revised our growth projection downward from 7.1 in October to 6.8 per cent, in part because we see this healthy adjustment in the real estate sector going forward. This is going to be a multi-year process where of course investment demand will be slower in order to facilitate the adjustment."

 

The Chief Economist at the ANZ Bank, Warren Hogan, says China's economic growth is still extraordinarily strong.

 

He says there's been a significant slowdown in parts of the Chinese economy that are important to Australia - but this has been taking place for a while.

 

"We're seeing much lower commodity prices partly because we're selling more iron ore, more coal than we ever have before so there's a supply issue but also because there is less investment going on in China particularly the building of property, of residential property. So I think that this doesn't represent anything new for the Australian economy and if anything it should reinforce, given the tough couple of years we've had in the mining sector, that China still is recording pretty solid growth."

 

Warren Hogan notes the slightly lower growth numbers mask a change that's occurring in China which is good for Australia.

 

He says as the middle classes in China continue to increase their wealth, they're electing to eat Australia's high-quality food exports.

 

"So this really should not represent any concerns for our agricultural sector and in fact Chinese growth will probably slow further over the years ahead but their demand for food and their demand for Australia's products will only increase. Their growth is changing, it's not good for iron ore but it is still very positive for agriculture and energy."

 






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